On August 25–26, 2026, the Industrial Software Standardization Working Group of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association (CISA/SWG1) held an industry standard launch meeting and group standard review meeting at Baosight Software Co., Ltd. in Shanghai.
The meeting officially launched the development of one industry standard, Technical Requirements for Intelligent Equipment Management Systems in the Steel Industry, while completing the review of four group standards covering converter digital twins, intelligent control for cold rolling, intelligent management and control of secondary refining, and intelligent ladle hot repair systems. Participants also conducted preliminary discussions on six standards currently under development.
More than 30 organizations from industry, academia and research institutions, including Baosight Software, Baosteel, Shagang Group, CITIC Special Steel and Northeastern University, participated in the meeting both online and on site.
Song Jianhai, Chairman of CISA/SWG1 and a representative of Baosight Software, said in his opening remarks that the State Council’s Opinions on the In-Depth Implementation of the “Artificial Intelligence Plus” Initiative identifies accelerated innovation in industrial software as a key priority.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s Guidelines for Equipment Renewal and Technological Upgrading in Key Industrial Sectors call for the replacement and upgrading of approximately 2 million sets of industrial software and 800,000 sets of industrial operating systems by 2027. The steel industry is among the key sectors targeted for this upgrade.
Against this backdrop, standard development is becoming an essential requirement rather than an optional initiative for the steel industry.
Since its establishment more than two years ago, CISA/SWG1 has released the Guidelines for Building an Industrial Software Standard System for the Steel Industry, the industry standard Technical Requirements for Industrial Microservice Components Applied in the Steel Industry, and four group standards covering equipment management.
At present, the working group has one industry standard and eight group standards under development. These standards cover key areas including equipment management, digital twins, process control, secondary refining, ladle hot repair, production planning and scheduling, intelligent dispatching, and cost accounting.
A preliminary three-level standard architecture of basic standards, general standards and product standards is gradually taking shape.
The newly launched Technical Requirements for Intelligent Equipment Management Systems in the Steel Industry is led by Baosight Software.
During the meeting, experts discussed its scope of application, technical architecture, functional boundaries, system integration, data analysis and intelligent applications.
One of the key objectives is to modularize and standardize capabilities such as equipment condition monitoring, predictive maintenance and PHM (Prognostics and Health Management), while improving interfaces between systems.
For steel producers, this could help address long-standing challenges when different software platforms and suppliers are involved, including incompatible data structures, difficult system integration and limited scalability.
In practical terms, standardized interfaces and functional requirements could make it easier for intelligent equipment management systems from different suppliers to communicate, connect and expand across different plants.
The four group standards that passed review are closely linked to specific steelmaking scenarios:
Technical Requirements for Converter Digital Twin Systems in the Steel Industry — Integrates blowing models with real-time production data to support virtual commissioning and closed-loop optimization of converters.
Technical Requirements for Intelligent Control Systems for Cold Rolling Processes — Focuses on coordinated control of strip shape, thickness and surface quality.
Technical Requirements for Intelligent Management and Control Systems for Secondary Refining Processes — Covers production rhythm management and alloy optimization at refining stations such as RH and LF.
Technical Requirements for Intelligent Ladle Hot Repair Systems — Focuses on the identification of refractory wear in ladles operating at temperatures of around 1,600°C and intelligent scheduling of hot repair operations. The standard also addresses the need for improved risk monitoring in molten-metal operations highlighted in China’s recent safety and emergency equipment planning.
These standards are intended to turn practical solutions that were previously developed under individual enterprise specifications into more widely applicable technical requirements.
The development of these standards also reflects a broader change in China’s steel industry.
1.For years, industrial software applications in steelmaking have often been developed and implemented independently by different software providers and steel companies. Differences in terminology, data models, interfaces and acceptance criteria have created hidden costs when systems need to be integrated or expanded. By incorporating technologies such as digital twins, intelligent scheduling and ladle hot repair into industry and group 2.standards, CISA/SWG1 is effectively establishing a common technical framework for the sector. For steel producers, this framework could provide clearer criteria for equipment renewal and software procurement. For 3.software suppliers, it can offer more consistent requirements for system design and implementation. For universities and research institutions, it can also provide a clearer path for integrating process models and industrial 4.research into real production environments. The direction is increasingly shifting from “buying individual software systems” to “building interoperable industrial software platforms.”
According to the working group’s 2026 plan, further work will focus on standards for areas such as APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling) and PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) systems, where standardization gaps remain. A dedicated group for emerging technologies will also be established, while efforts will continue to align industry standards with Chinese national standards and international standards.
For steelmakers entering China’s 15th Five-Year Plan period, the competitive focus is therefore moving beyond simply increasing MES or ERP coverage.
A more important question is whether intelligent equipment management systems can be connected and evaluated according to consistent technical criteria, and whether digital twins developed at one production base can be reused across multiple plants.
As China moves toward the 2027 target of upgrading approximately 2 million sets of industrial software, the steel industry is increasingly recognizing that standardized interfaces, data models and acceptance criteria need to be established before large-scale software deployment.
For smart steel manufacturing, standardization is becoming the underlying mechanism that can turn individual pilot projects and demonstration lines into scalable solutions across entire steel groups.
Excerpted from Steel.com
